The cause of frequent ear sickness in children is the peculiarity of the structure of the inner ear. In young children, especially at the age of three, the auditory meatus is short and wide, and therefore, any runny nose can lead to inflammation of the middle ear - otitis. In infants, otitis provokes the fact that the child lies horizontally, and the middle ear is at the same level as the baby's nasopharynx.
Runny nose in children can not help but be treated in the hope that it will pass by itself. Because, at first sight harmless snot, sometimes can lead to the fact that the infected contents of the nasal passages quickly fall into the inner ear and the inflammatory process will begin.
Not the last role in ear disease plays a sore throat, as well as untreated carious teeth. Any painful process that occurs in the nasopharynx, can lead to otitis. To determine what exactly hurts the baby who does not yet talk is simple enough. Easily press your finger on the tragus (the protruding part of the auricle that closes the ear canal) and release it sharply. If the kid reacts to your action with weeping, he probably has otitis.
Pain in the ear makes itself felt mostly unexpectedly, at night, and parents should know how to help ease the pain of the baby before the doctor comes. If the temperature does not exceed 37 °, you can make a baby a vodka compress on the ear.
How to make a compress in the child's ear?
To do this, you will need forty-degree store vodka, packing cotton, cellophane or parchment paper, gauze cut, bandage, scarf or cap to fix the compress on the head.
Before you make an ear compress, you need to do some manipulation. The outer part of the eyelet must be cleaned with a cotton swab from the excreta, if any. Do not clean the ear canal with a match. So you can push the sulfur back into your ear and aggravate the situation. The place of the compress can be lubricated with an ordinary baby cream, because the skin of the baby is still very tender and vulnerable, and vodka is quite a strong irritant.
The vodka needs to be heated to 37 °, it should be just above body temperature. Turn the marle into 6-8 layers, and in the middle cut the hole in the shape of the ear of the child.
Then the resulting gauze square is soaked in vodka and squeezed slightly, so that the liquid does not flow, but not too much, otherwise the vodka will quickly evaporate. Marl should be applied only around the auricle, and not on top of it. This layer will be warming.
The next step is to apply a layer of dense cellophane or parchment paper. It should also be cut in the middle, and the edges should protrude by one and a half centimeters beyond the edge of the gauze layer. This layer will not get wet, and the pack will cool quickly.
After parchment turn the layer of cotton wool. It can be spared, because the thicker the layer, the longer and more effective it will be to warm the compress. The cotton layer, like all the previous ones, should also not cover the ear shell itself, but be placed around it. The resulting compress is fixed with a bandage or we put a cap on the child.
It is recommended to apply the compress for 3-4 hours once a day, preferably from 14:00 to 16:00, after all, it is scientifically proven that
After the compress is removed, the skin needs to be wiped with a damp napkin soaked in warm water, and again lubricate the skin with cream.
When the child hurts the ear with otitis, then, in addition to the vodka compress, they also use an alcohol compress in the ear. Alcohol is taken or a simple medical 96 °, which before use is bred in half with water, or boric alcohol. Be careful! Undiluted alcohol leads to burning of delicate skin.